# George Cottrell

George Cottrell (born 1993 or 1994) is a British financier and convicted felon. He was a senior advisor to Nigel Farage and formerly served as head of fundraising for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) until his arrest in the USA following the 2016 Republican National Convention.

## Early life and family

Cottrell was born in London, England, to an aristocratic family. His father, Mark Cottrell, a businessman and landowner from Gloucestershire, attended Gordonstoun School with Prince Andrew, Duke of York. George Cottrell's mother, The Honourable Fiona Watson, a daughter of Rupert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton (d.2003), is a former glamour model and girlfriend of Charles III when he was Prince of Wales. During the run up to the 2024 general election, Fiona Watson donated £500,000 to Reform UK.
Cottrell's maternal uncle Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh, a former hereditary peer, was the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords.
Cottrell was raised and educated on the private island of Mustique, before attending Malvern College, from which he was expelled for illegal gambling.
Cottrell is reported to be a high-stakes poker player and to have lost $20 million in one night in 2024.

## Career

Cottrell was listed as a director in a number of businesses from when he was a teenaged, both in the UK and in the British Virgin Islands.
While head of fundraising for UKIP, Cottrell became the chief of staff to Nigel Farage, who was then UKIP leader. By 2017, he had gained the nickname "Posh George" amongst UKIP staffers.
In May 2019, Cottrell was reportedly serving as a fundraiser for the Brexit Party. In 2025 Cottrell was described as being "always around" Farage but he held no official role in Reform. His relationship with Farage was said to be personal rather than political and Tatler reported that "Cottrell sometimes referred to Farage as 'Daddy'".

## Arrest and conviction

In 2014, Cottrell advertised money laundering services on the dark web and detailed various methods by which money could be transferred out of the United States. Authorities noticed the advert and undercover agents posing as drug dealers messaged him ultimately leading to Cottrell to travel to Las Vegas to secure the deal.
In July 2016, while attending the Republican National Convention with Farage, Cottrell was arrested by IRS Criminal Investigation special agents at Chicago O'Hare International. Cottrell was federally indicted on 21 counts for conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, blackmail, and extortion. Denied bail by a judge who branded Cottrell a "serious flight risk," he was detained in custody at Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago.
Following a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to dismiss 20 counts in exchange for a guilty plea in relation to advertising money laundering services and information provided by Cottrell about how he became involved in the activities. In March 2017, Cottrell was sentenced and released by Judge Diane Humetewa, having served eight months in prison. Upon his release William Cash wrote what the Daily Beast described as a "sympathetic profile" of Cottrell for The Daily Telegraph in which he claimed that the undercover agents had approached him and were trying to sell their property portfolio, a "radically different" narrative to the plea deal he signed.